Top 4 Benefits Of Living Near A Volcano

Some countries are quite fortunate that their geographical location is situated outside of the Pacific Ring of Fire making them not have any volcanic activities. Due to that, these countries will not experience volcanic eruptions that can cause a catastrophe and take away innocent lives.

Despite these volcanic eruption incidents being very dangerous and unpredictable, you might notice that there are placements or villages being built close to these active volcanic mountains. You might wonder about the rationale for building such places especially when their lives are at stake when these eruptions do occur.

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Wouldn't it make more sense if it were built at such a far distance? Well, believe it or not, there are some benefits that they get from these volcanic mountains that encourage them to live close by.

Here we would like to share with you some of the benefits that you could get from living near a volcano.

1. Tourist Hot Spot

If we were to talk about common sense, most people will try to divert themselves from danger and not try to get close to them. However, there are still some people out there who love to visit such places in order to experience what a volcanic eruption will look like or see for themselves the after-effect of such incidents.

Statistics have shown that areas that contain many volcanic activities will increase job opportunities, especially in the tourist sector. In southeast Asia, the Mayon Mountain located in the Philippines happens to be one of the regions with active volcanic activities that have become one of the hotspots for tourists in the world.

Aside from that, tourists will commonly be in the vicinity of these volcanic mountains where they will be able to see the geyser which is hot water coming out from the ground and they can dip themselves in one of the hot springs nearby.

On the other hand, in Iceland tourists, will see the structures of the Earth's crust where they will also see the volcanic mountains surrounded by glaciers, unlike anything that they will see in other places.

2. Fertile Land

Generally, the nearby soil at volcanic mountains is very fertile with various types of minerals required for growth. When the volcanic mountain erupts, it will release its lava which will flow and covers the nearby area.

Usually, the process of the lava deposits will take a very long time while some say taking thousands of years in the process. When this situation does occur, the soil will be rich in crucial minerals that will make the land very suitable for agriculture.

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Some examples of placements nearby volcanic mountains will be the Rift Valley in Africa, Vesuvius in Italy, and close to Elgon Mountain in Uganda.

3. Source of Energy And Heat

Heat and gas present in the volcanic mountains will provide geothermal energy that can be used to produce electricity. Aside from that, natural heat can also be used to heat the water for a hot shower and to heat up our homes for the winter.

If there was no vapor that can be found to generate energy, then the people nearby will seek the vapor source manually by making 2 holes close to one another. Then, cold water will be poured into one of those holes which will create vapor that will escape through the other hole.

New Zealand and Iceland are among the countries that benefitted from this geothermal energy. In fact, it was said that 2 out of 3 electrical energy sources needed by Iceland citizens were fulfilled by geothermal energy alone.

This is one way to save their energy source since this geothermal energy can be obtained naturally from the nearby volcanic mountains.

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4. Culture and Religion

Aside from the top 3 benefits stated above, the factor of religion and culture also comes to play by influencing the establishment of settlements around the volcanic mountains. For instance, in Hawaii, there are ethics that build their homes close to volcanic mountains as they believed that the mountains are a place for the worship of their gods which was practiced by their ancestors.

Because of that, it is very difficult for the current generations to move far away from these volcanic areas that are considered very holy. Some other ethnicities, they thought that there was no need for them to move out considering that their settlements have been established by their earliest ancestors.

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